Originally Posted by hilltowner

I've got the same year Internat'l hanging in the alcove in the connector between our house and barn. I picked it up used from the original owner in '77 when he needed cash to head out West. It was a replacement for my first Reynolds frame, a 72 Gitane TdF that had gotten stolen from the basement of the house I was in in Amherst. The Internat'l got sidelined after a succession of Itie frames came my way from my brother but I'd used it for everything from century rides, club rides, racing and touring.

The Itie frames got sidelined as well as my interest in racing waned and I spent more time touring and commuting on a repurposed Bridgestone MB-1. When a mysterious $2K showed up on a Mass. unclaimed money list attached to my name my wife said spend it on a new bike (I'd been lamenting the lack of a nice new ride). As I plumbed the depths of my consciousness for the perfect machine my mind drifted back to the Raleigh. I really like touring long distances but in the time between tours the thought of lightly loaded long rides was very appealing. What better way to do that then to get the Raleigh converted to a low-trail, 650b randonneur.

I discussed it with a friend who pointed out all of the obstacles. He was most familiar with Stephen Bilenky's conversion prices. Totaling up all of the things I thought needed to happen I realized the $2K would disappear pretty quickly. Soma was offering a discount mid-winter last year and I decided to go with a Grand Randonneur frame. It has since been built up with a VO crank and other new and old parts (the brake levers from the Internat'l among other things.) I really like the Soma and haven't regretted the decision to go with steel, randonneuring geometry for the new bike I wanted.

Seeing this conversion though has made me regret only one thing. If this had been a year earlier, these pictures would have convinced me to go with my first idea.